Harper's Bazaar September 2025

There is a subtext to that question that speaks to something deeper about what it means to be alive right now—about what unites and inspires us, what galvanizes us and gives us hope. These are incredibly transformative and disorienting times. Keeping pace with all the change can feel like a full-time job. There is a beauty, though, in all the chaos—and a powerful opportunity. The realms of influence and cultural power are no longer reserved for a select few. And while the forces of society and history—and the myriad algorithms that now suffuse our lives—can feel as though they are conspiring to reduce and limit us, there is space to break out of those artificial boxes. The people in this issue have each embraced that idea in their own way.…

I begin most of my days listening to Dua Lipa. My son loves to dance in the morning, and Dua Lipa just brings the joy. So I’m thrilled to have Lipa on our Icons cover, photographed by Anthony Seklaoui and styled by our style director at large, Carlos Nazario, to coincide with her American tour. I admire that in addition to inspiring some raucous earlymorning dance parties, Lipa is, as her friend Mustafa, the poet and singer-songwriter, told our features director, Kaitlyn Greenidge, “good for the ecosystem.” She uses her platform to not just bring good vibes to sold-out stadiums of fans or inspire endless outfits with her sparkly stage and street style but also share diverse perspectives from some of the sharpest writers, thinkers, and creative minds through her…

Amy Winehouse. Adele. Bruno Mars. Dua Lipa. Mark Ronson has crafted hits for some of music’s boldest and brightest. But before he was a sought-after pop maestro, Ronson was a scrappy young DJ spinning his way through ’90s New York City. “It was eight years of digging in crates and studying records,” he says. That formative period is the focus of Ronson’s new book, Night People, which chronicles how his DJ years laid the foundation for his next phase as a songwriter and producer—one ushered in with his work on Winehouse’s smoky 2006 breakthrough album, Back to Black. As evidenced by his more recent work, like his hit soundtrack for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, he has maintained his groove ever since. “The script was so rich with emotion and comedy that…

WHY DON’T YOU…GET yourself a three-way mirror so you can see your backside as well as your front. It’s important. You learn that from being in the studios with the actresses or anybody that had to move around and dance. I’ve had some young ones, these Disney children who have grown up into hot mamas lately, like Zendaya, Sabrina Carpenter, and Miley. It’s kind of interesting to fit them; they’re looking back at the old stuff to see what we were doing then. WHY DON’T YOU…KNOW your limits. Most crop tops aren’t for everybody. You know, you’re lucky if you look good in a crop top. If God was good to you. The first time I met Cher, I just said, “Oh my God, we can do anything and get away with…

WHY DON’T YOU…? Add a FLOURISH with a BLOOMING BROOCH.…

WHY DON’T YOU…? Keep things WARM and FUZZY with a LIGHTWEIGHT KNIT.…